Now first of all: How can you possibly have an Easter parade without the word Easter in it? It’s turning into a simple parade! But this just as a side note…

Here are my thoughts, and please get me right: It’s only an opinion. I’m not telling you what you have to think or do. I’m simply sharing my thoughts on this subject and I think I’ve never been that open about it so far…

I get it. I get that you want to make everyone feel accepted and welcome. I get that there are different religions, different lifestyles, different philosophies out there and that as a principal you have to consider the well-being of everyone. You do want to make everyone feel comfortable. Totally get it.

And he is not alone.

Things like this happen everywhere. We are told not to wish a Merry Christmas anymore but rather Happy Holidays. Words like “Easter” and “Merry” and even “Christmas” suddenly are no longer acceptable. The principal is only one of the examples of people trying to do the right thing but end up basically doing the wrong thing. At least in my opinion.

As I pointed out before on many occasions, I’m not religious. I do have my believes but I consider myself really open minded. This, though, goes too far. And here is why I think it goes too far:

I believe that a culture has a certain lifestyle, certain rules. Religion and law are a big part of this. It’s what the culture lives by and why it works the way it works. As someone that has traveled a fair bit and also moved country I feel that if you visit a country, a culture, it’s up to you to accept their rules, their law, their religion, their lifestyle, their way of sorting things. It’s not up to you to change what they feel is right. You have to adjust, not the other way around.

Now, in cases like this, I feel this adjusting gets forced on the culture, the locals if you want to use this word. Although it is born out of a good thought it creates massive issues. You read something like the article mentioned above on Facebook or any other social platform and the comments suddenly turn mean. Instead of blaming the fact that we bend in all sort of directions the frustrations is focused on other religions, other political ideas.

So by being so called political correct, what we trigger is racial issues, religious issues and hate.

I have to admit that it makes me angry too, when I read about another one of those attempts to make everyone happy or make everyone feel included. And the thought crosses my mind, that it’s not okay. That if we move to a country we have to apply to its rules, its lifestyle and its main religion. If I don’t like it then I should choose another place to move to. Same with traveling. I would never expect a Muslim country to change its rules just because I travel there and as a woman want to be able to move around the way I’m used to. I inform myself and then follow the rules. Or I decide not to go there. Same with the move.

I understand that sometimes you have no option in choosing where you move to. But even then: You adjust. Not the place you move to.

I do see the issue we have in multicultural places. I see the issues we have, living in cultural melting points. There are many different lifestyles to be considered. What it all comes down to in my eyes, is what the original foundation is. What is this culture based on?

I see that you have some leeway if the constitution says that you have freedom of speech, freedom of religion and so on. That doesn’t mean, though, that we have to bend our values and our lifestyle to the point where it simply doesn’t make any sense anymore. It simply means acceptance.

Acceptance of the fact that people might dress differently. Acceptance of the fact that they might pray differently. Acceptance that things might be done slightly different.

As long as we stay open and accept those things, we follow our constitution. There is no need to change our way of life to conform every one. And the interesting fact is, that the groups that are used to excuse changes like this are not comfortable with it either. Nobody asked for it. It’s all in our head!

I find it dangerous to bend our values. We start with “silly” things that still are so important in our life, in our thinking. But where will it stop? When will we decide that we need to change the way we dress in order to make everyone feel included? And how will it look like? Will we have to wrap ourselves up head to toes or shave our heads? Where will it stop, this urge for political correctness, that in my eyes is so totally silly and honestly not only wrong but also dangerous.

There is so much hate triggered by a silly decision like this. So many people now full of hate because they blame a certain religion for it, although it had nothing to do with it.

Why can we not just stand up for our values, for our lifestyle, for our religion and stand behind it. This is the way we live. It’s the way we organize our community. It’s the way we make things work. Accept it and deal with it, because we will not ask you to change your values as long as they are not against our laws.

I find that we live in a very accepting culture, generally speaking. And I don’t understand why we have to prove it over and over again by divulging our roots. I’m all for being political correct. But it has to stay real. Unfortunately it turns into a farce far too often…

50 thoughts on “Easter And Political Correctness”

I find it quite a frustration topic that the western world is so scared of offending, but in other parts of the world it is not like that, the visitors are expected to abide by the customs, and not unreasonably so.

The sad thing is, as you said, no one asked for it. There is an old saying and you’ve probably heard it as well…good intentions pave the road to hell…this is a perfect example. It has become that way everywhere and is becoming ridiculous. Accepting someone or something does not mean the whole world has to change. It just means as a people we accept people as they are with mo consequence. But like with everything it is taken to extreme stupidity.

Can I start by reiterating a point you have made succinctly, when moving or visiting another country one should abide by the laws applicable to that country and respect the main religious teachings. After all, if we moved to a Muslim country we would have to respect their laws and right to arrest us if we appear drunk in public.

I once appeared drunk in public in Dubai and got arrested by a Chinese girl.

I’d been drinking double campari and vodkas and I woke up the next morning and found her lying next to me in bed. I asked her how the bloody hell she’d got there and had she limboed under the door. Anyway, I got off with a fine – she insisted on 200 bloody Dollars and the galling thing about it all was I couldn’t remember a thing about the arrest, not one bloody thing!!!

Sounds like a warning to me about the dangers of drinking lol. Maybe you should forget the arrest and concern yourself more with the blackout you obviously had. Never good to forget chunks of your life.

Exactly. The issue here is, that nobody asked for this change… But as a result of the growing frustration (because individuals decide that changes like this have to be made) groups get blamed. In this case all groups that don’t celebrate Christian Holidays. And yet it’s not their fault!

I’ve had more blackouts than the Londoners had during the blitz in the 2nd world war mate. My Doctor tells me that I’m a binge drinker and I tell him that he’s an Equine Veterinarian – we’ve reached a happy medium and have agreed to differ, medically speaking that is.

Isn’t everyone a binge drinker from time to time? (Lol) I know I had to quit drinking some time ago when I started blacking out for a few weeks at a time. Not a good way to hold onto a job that one. My doctor told me I was an alcoholic but hell I can stop drinking anytime I felt like it. Proved that thousands of time.

In his misplaced politically correct attempt to be inclusive by excluding the word Easter, the Bondi Public School Principal Mr. Michael Jones has achieved the opposite, the antonym of inclusive, and is simply fostering exclusivity.

What we have here is a person of little importance generally, occupying a position of significance where any importance he has is by virtue only of local government administrative bureaucracy, namely schooling within a catchment area that parents have limited choice but to depend upon. A tin God who chooses to express his limited opinions knowing full well that where these matters are concerned, he can rely upon the feral misfits of our societies to more than vocally back him.

The small minded always target weak areas to attack, smug in the knowledge that any backlash will be easily dismissed and much, no doubt, as he dismisses his preteen charges at the end of the day.

For my part I’m just thankful that I attended the Attila the Hun British Public School system, (meaning the elitist private high paying fee system) where the politically correct knew their place – they used to clean the dirty places back then.

I wrote a lot, then deleted it. To sum it up, I agree with you. The world does not have to conform to us, just accept our differences. We are supposed to all be different. 🙂 Just be kind, no matter what. Happy Easter. :)))) Happy Friday, :)))

Well said! I will never understand why a person thinks that it’s okay to change the foundations that holidays were built upon to suit their own needs. Although Easter is supposed to signify Jesus’ resurrection, when I was a child it only signified eggs and Easter baskets. In other words, technically we can celebrate it however we choose. Whether that means going to church or searching for eggs, or not celebrating it at all. Everyone has a choice. But regardless, Easter is Easter. As for Christmas…Happy Holidays? That’s never made sense to me. CHRISTmas is obviously about Christ. There is no taking Him out of it. If people don’t want to celebrate Christmas, they don’t have to. There’s no law about it. If they want to celebrate a “holiday”, they could choose another day and if not …well then they better be ready and willing to hear “Merry Christmas.” Furthermore, if they want to pretend that it’s not about Jesus, then they can easily do so – no cross, no Jesus in the manger, no attending church. Just like Easter, technically we can celebrate it however we choose to. But, there’s no need to be politically correct on an already long-ago established holiday. That’s my opinion on the matter.

Hear hear, well said that person. I wish people Happy Easter whether they believe or not, in December I wish strangers Happy Holidays since most of my neighbours here celebrate Hanika and not Christmas, there’s always been a strong Jewish community in Gateshead and it’s amazing now when there’s an influx of Arabs, Eastern Europeans and others. I’m in the middle of a multicultural explosion yet there’s no trouble, everyone is very tolerant of everyone else and that’s how it should be. Political Correctness has no place in a multicultural society since those coming here want to work, live and worship in their own way. I don’t often agree with Vladimir Putin but I think he did say one thing I can get behind, “Those coming here to escape war, and victimisation, welcome but if you don’t like our way of life then feel free to turn around and leave. You need us more than we need you!”

That is a very good statement and he is absolutely right. If you’re going to move some place, either accept their way of life or leave. You’re right that political correctness has no place in societies that are filled with so many cultures. Truly the fact of the matter is, is that someone somewhere will always get offended over something, but we can’t and shouldn’t have to live in fear of that.

I think so too! What developed is part of that culture and the people creating that culture. Isn’t that what makes life on this planet so interesting? If everybody adjusts to the same how boring will that be? The one who changes places has to adjust to the new place not the place to the person. But the place has to accept that the person is different.

Personally speaking, as a not very religiously observant but still very much culturally liberal Jewish person whose recent ancestors escaped the Holocaust, I have just a bit of a problem with some of the Christian holiday expressions in the US. It’s more of a personal decision based on my own and my family’s experiences. For instance, when I hear “Merry Xmas” (and I write it that way every time even though the speaker says the word that the X stands for), my usual response is “Happy Hanukkah.” I joined the Universalist Unitarian church here in the highly educated and generally liberal town where I now live but decided to not renew my membership based on my discomfort what what I have found to be the origin of the word “church” bearing in mind that other Jews who live here have told me that, generally out in the surrounding more conservative counties, the first question they are asked by people they meet for the first time is “What church do you belong to?” As far as Easter goes, and Xmas for that matter as well, many educated people know the pagan origins of many of the holiday traditions that are practiced around those days which probably makes them more like the generic cultural traditions you are talking about and thus more easily acceptable. That’s how I feel about Easter/Spring, Xmas/Winter and possibly Halloween/Day of the Dead parades. They’re fun for all children, of all ages, and, best of all, come with a lot of really yummy candies. I know I look forward to the availability of Peeps which is generally limited to Spring only but has started to leak over to other cultural holiday times.

I agree with your post, it adresses a circumstance I’ve found frustrating for some time now. The more I learn the more I am coming to see the problem has insidious roots. One world order, one world religion is the goal. The enemy of our souls is at the heart of it- eliminate Christianity is the end goal.

Political correctness will ultimately rob everyone of us of any sense of having a personal culture – presumably in the interest of not offending anyone, we are to forget where we came from and what was meaningfully passed down by our ancestors. It reflects a society that is unable to celebrate and see the value in our differences – and unable to tolerate one another. Why would we ever allow this to happen? It’s a loss of free speech. MY opinion. in lak’ech Debra